Robert G. Forward

Bob Forward, of Schaumburg, IL, passed away at the age of 82, surrounded by his family on Sunday October 12th, 2025. His smile, laughter, wisdom and kindness will be missed by family, friends and neighbors.

Bob was born in Chicago, Illinois on Veterans Day, November 11th, 1942 to William Forward and Clara Hagemeier (nee Abrahamson). He grew up alongside his brothers Bill Forward (Dana) and Ed Wethington (Val) in which, he loved dearly. After graduating from Lane Tech High School in 1961, he pursued a career in telecommunications as a lineman at Centel Corp. During this time, he also volunteered to serve in the Army Reserves and continued to work as an installer and technician. Bob finally decided to retire after finishing his profession at Alltel Corp. He always expressed that he loved his job and the people he worked with.

He met his wife Kris (nee Tyler) at a ski club where they traveled and had a wonderful time on the slopes amongst many other adventures. They later married on November 20th, 1976 and enjoyed 35 years together of celebrations and dancing until Kris’s passing in 2012.

Bob had been active throughout his life, which included attending many Cubs games, swimming, water skiing, snow skiing, softball, golfing and his most prevalent, bowling. For many years, he enjoyed vacations at his family’s cottage in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. It was his favorite place to take his daughters and teach them how to water ski as he whipped around in the speed boat.

Bob is survived by his daughters Jill Bank (John) and Lindsay Forward (Fiancé Bill Sheetz), his loving and caring partner of 10 years, Stephanie Petrie, brothers Bill, Ed, stepbrother Terry Hagemeier, brother in-laws Danny Tyler (Kathy) and Richard Tyler (Kristina) and including many nieces and nephews.

Bob was proceeded in death by his loving wife Kris, his mother Clara, father William, stepfather Bob Hagemeier, in-laws Perry and Elsie Tyler, step-siblings Lee Hagemeier (late Nancy) and Madonna Sanders (late Bill). 

A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the CJD Foundation or Strides4cjd.com for the 2026 annual walk/run in October with reference to Kris Forward.